Stuff I'm thinking about

Several things have occurred to me this week that I didn't really have time to blog about, because of you know, working for a living.

1. I love October. The MLB playoffs are the closest thing to March Madness. There are games that count. . . AT THREE PM! How great is that? Of course, I've been working too much to watch them, but it makes me feel good inside that they are on anyway.
2. I was really tempted to pick the Yankees, but Wang's nightmare tonight has me going the other direction. This postseason is hard because three teams I've come to hate (Cle, Chi, Bos) are all vying for a title. I'm left to chose the Angels (whom I sort of dislike because of the whole LA thing. Who are they fooling?), or the Rockies (see rant below), the Phillies (even their own fans hate them) or the DBacks (do we really need another NL expansion team to win? Ugh) I don't know who to root for. . .
3. How can I possibly respect the Rockies? Three weeks ago, I'm in Denver for a game. It's a gorgeous Saturday night. The Rocks are in contention for the first time in a freaking decade. They are playing the Padres, trailing them by only 3 games with three weeks left. GREG FREAKING MADDUX, perhaps the best pitcher of the last generation, is on the mound. How many show up for this game? They didn't break 30K. Baseball in Denver. Catch the very mild fever of about 99.1 degrees.
4. The Cardinals fired Walt Jocketty? Huh. I guess they hate all the. . . winning.
5. I'm not going to kill Sweet Lou for yanking out Zambrano, and you shouldn't either. The #1 mistake managers make in baseball is hanging with a starter too long. It kills teams. If your bullpen can't do the job, you aren't going to win anyway. Better to pull a starter too early than too late. I'm from the Sparky Anderson school of managing. Bring out the hook.
6. Interesting piece in SI about the Chargers decision to fire Schottenheimer. This piece claims it isn't AJ Smith's fault, but he certainly didn't fight to keep Marty, so I'm ok pinning the blame on his pompous ass.
7. The regular "Colts D is really not horrible" articles are coming out again.
8. This is the most depressing article ever. I saw a powerpoll that had the Pacers at 29th. REGGIE COME BACK! We are about 8 years from seeing this happen to the Colts after 18, Polian and Dungy all set sail for green pastures. I'll just have to mix my metaphors and enjoy the titles while I can.
9. A cash basket really would be the best gift. I can't figure out what would come close.

Demond Sanders: I think Lou's problem was justifying it by saying he was saving Zambrano for Game 4. He had given up all of 1 run. 85 pitches? You have to leave him in. Now, they probably won't see a fourth game. Also, I think it may be a tad early for praising the Colts defense. They've done a nice job, but beating Young, Schaub, and Cutler isn't enough evidence for me yet. Between Tampa Bay and Jacksonville we'll find out if they can stop the run. Still, they've been much better than the Colts D we saw in the Jags/Jets/Broncos games of early last season.